One
by dragonflybeach
Summary: A series of drabbles about Draco and Luna's hidden relationship, from Draco's eighth year onward.
1. Chapter 1

A/N - so when you have writer's block and you're listening to One by U2, you end up with a whole new story.

* * *

Draco Malfoy snarled at the girls watching him walk by.

They didn't give him much better of a reception.

"I can't believe he's back this year." Hannah said for at least the tenth time since the term began.

"He didn't have a choice." Hermione repeated, also for about the tenth time. "It was a condition of his probation that he finish school."

"You'd think he could be a little more grateful for the fact he's not rotting in Azkaban." Ginny drawled, giving the passerby a disparaging look.

He ignored them and kept walking.

"I believe he's rather misunderstood." Luna interjected. "Sort of like the crumple horned snorkack. They were hunted into near extinction during the Middle Ages because people feared them unjustly. He's more afraid of us than we are of him."

"I'm not afraid of him." Ginny insisted.

"Me neither. We all know he's nothing but a LITTLE COWARD!" Hannah's voice rose to make sure the subject of discussion could hear them.

"That's exactly why he's afraid of us." Luna shrugged.

She stood and walked away in the opposite direction.


	2. Chapter 2

"There you are, Draco." A dreamy, high pitched voice called from behind him.

He didn't turn to look.

Even if he hadn't recognized the voice, no one else was crazy enough to follow him down here.

"The boathouse is an unusual choice of a hiding place. But then again, so many others are taken. I usually go to the Forest. Dennis Creavey spends time with Myrtle in the lavatory these days. Dean climbs out of the window midway up the north tower onto the roof when he starts feeling confined. And there's practically a schedule and waiting list to brood in the Astronomy Tower these days." She listed off as she dropped herself onto the dock beside him.

"What do you want, Lovegood?" He asked, sounding defeated.

I brought your herbology gloves." She handed them to him. "I found them behind the suit of armour on the fifth floor. It's rather odd, isn't it, that the nargles are stealing your things instead of mine this year?"

"It's not nargles." He grumbled, stuffing the gloves in his pocket. "It's our lovely fellow students."

"I was afraid of that." She sighed. "I found your Potions book as well. Unfortunately, someone ripped most of the pages out and burned the rest of it. That wasn't exactly the work of nargles."

"No." He huffed.

"You can owl order a new one, you know." She offered. "It would probably be here in a day or so. And if you need to in the meantime, you can share mine."

"Why are you here?" He asked.

"Because you are me now." She answered.

She sat beside him for almost half an hour, just staring out into the water.

"I don't hate you, you know." She told him.

"You should." He grumbled. "That just shows how mad you are."

"You hate yourself enough for two or three people." She replied as if commenting on the weather. "And you really shouldn't. You had reasons for the things you did, every bit as much as Harry had reasons for the things he did."

Then as abruptly as she had arrived, she stood, bid him farewell, and left.


	3. Chapter 3

She started coming to the boathouse to sit with him after that. Sometimes she would talk about nargles and wrackspurts and other nonsense creatures. Once she even told him about her mother. But mostly they sat in silence together.

He just didn't have the energy to chase her off, and it was nice to have someone he didn't have to guard his back against.

She didn't press him to talk, unlike his mother or the damned mind healer. He was grateful, although he never told her.

At least until the night she found him with an empty wine bottle by his side and a half consumed one in his hand.

"What's wrong?" She asked, sitting down beside him.

"I don' wanna be here emmymore." He slurred.

"In three days you won't be." She pointed out. "You'll be at home at Malfoy Manor for Christmas holidays. But that's not what you're talking about, is it?"

"Ever'one hatesh me." He whined. "Crabbe and Goyle are dead. Blaish and Tee … Theo won' have emmy … any think to do wif me."

Luna reached over and began to slide the wine bottle from his hand.

"Mine." He grumbled, gripping it tighter.

"It's rude not to share." She told him.

He let go, letting her have the bottle, and didn't seem to notice that she sat it down on her other side without taking a drink.

"Pansy didn't come back. Daphne alwaysh hated me. Eben Stor … Uh-stor-ree-uh," He pronounced carefully. "Tha' bish is s'posed to marry me ness year and she won' talk to me if people are 'round. The Malfoy name doeshn't meem emmy fing to people now. My life is ober. It wub be ober, All I haf to do is juss slide into the water. I'd probly die of hype ... height-oh ... freeze to def before I drown. But I'm too much of a coward to juss do it."

"You're not a coward." She insisted, cupping his cheeks in her hands so that he had to look at her. "You have a strong will to live. You deserve to live. Things will get better. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but one day. And you'll be glad you're still here to see it."

"Why?" He asked.

"Why what?" She frowned.

"Why do fink … think my life will get bebber?" He swayed slightly, and she propped him up against her shoulder.

"Because mine did." She whispered. "When I was in your cellar, I didn't know what would happen. I didn't know if my dad or my friends were alive. But I knew this wouldn't last forever. And it didn't."

"Why are you nice to me?" He frowned.

"Because you need someone to be." She answered softly.

He stared at her for a very long moment. She was about to ask him what he was looking at when he leaned in toward her.

She placed her hands against his chest, ready to prop him up again, but his hands closed over her wrists as his lips covered hers.

His kisses tasted of wine and desperation; hers of comfort and curiosity.

He kissed her until she lost her breath and couldn't remember why this was a bad idea.

By the time he raised his head, his eyes had darkened to the color of the antique mercury glass her grandmother used to collect and his own breathing was ragged.

"Thank you." He whispered.

Then he threw up.


	4. Chapter 4

Draco didn't remember how he got back to his room, or how he got undressed and into bed. He awoke the next morning thinking he would have to get better to die.

Someone banged on his door.

"Who is it?" He groaned, grasping his head against the pounding.

"Open up Malfoy."

Draco managed to find his wand on the bedside table and point it at the door, muttering the spell.

Doug Harper strode in, one of the few people who would still speak to him, even if it was mostly brown nosing in hopes of riding the Malfoy coat tails if the family ever returned to glory.

"You missed breakfast, so you missed the owl post." He tossed a letter onto Draco's chest. "So I brought it to you. You sick?"

"Kinda." Draco muttered.

"And kinda hung over?" Harper laughed.

"Get out of my room." Draco grumbled.

"Sure, whatever you say." Harper answered much louder than necessary and then slammed the door on the way out.

Draco summoned a glass of water, and his eyes had somewhat come into focus by the time he managed to sit up and drink it.

The note was short and to the point.

_Boathouse tonight after dinner._

It wasn't signed, but there was no doubt who sent it. Her handwriting was as dreamy looking as her voice sounded.

He sighed and threw the letter onto the floor.

Wonderful. He'd alienated the one person in the entire castle who wasn't dying to stick a knife in his back during one drunken pity party.

The thought briefly occurred to him to ignore the summons. However, having been blasted by Pansy in the middle of the Great Hall for some slight misdeed that she had deemed the end of the world, he was thankful that Luna at least chose to censure him privately.

Best just to get it over with.

He lounged around most of the day, receiving a visit from the headmistress to ensure that he was simply under the weather and not finally cursed into oblivion. She insisted on sending up a house elf with soup and toast for him, even though Draco was positive the sight of food would make him sick again.

He took another nap later in the afternoon, and finally dragged himself into the shower as the shadows lengthened across the floor.

He steeled himself to sit through dinner, hear out Lovegood at the boathouse, and then lock himself in his room with the bottle of wine he had left.

At times, there were some advantages to being so unwelcome in Slytherin house that the staff had given him his own private quarters.

He managed to choke down half his dinner, which sat like lead in his gut. He had no choice, as if the mind healer heard Draco went an entire day without eating, he's probably be referred back to inpatient treatment again.

Luna was there and smiled at him brilliantly.

Wonderful. Way to twist the knife even more. If he didn't know better, he would think she had taken lessons from him.

The way he used to be, a long time ago. Back when he was the Prince of Slytherin and the house and most of the school fell at his feet.

Long before Voldemort came back and turned his life upside down and thrust him into a nightmare, and …

Stop Draco.

Before you end up drunk and trying to work up the nerve to step off the dock again.

He walked out to the boathouse while she was still at the table. He sat there, staring into the water for nearly ten minutes before he felt rather than heard her sit down beside him.

"Are you better today?" She asked softly.

He snorted and didn't answer.

"You're sober and not talking about not wanting to be here anymore, so I take those for an improvement." She continued.

He turned to look at her. "Lovegood, just say … "

He was interrupted by her mouth closing over his and her tongue darting between his lips.

He pulled away from her in shock.

"What the hell?"

"The kiss last night was rather nice. At least until you threw up on my hair." She shrugged. "I wanted to see if it would feel as nice when you were sober."

He touched his hand to his lips and continued to look at her in shock.

"I also want to see if things beyond kissing feel good too." She whispered.

She took his hand and slipped it under her shirt, reaching for his neck again with her other hand.

He pushed her away.

"Lovegood, what are you doing?" He demanded.

"Trying to snog you, of course." She replied. "What am I doing wrong?"

"Why are you doing this?" He spluttered in confusion.

"Because last night, when we were kissing, you made parts of me tingle that no one else ever has." She explained. "Well, except when I touch myself. I want you to … "

"Is this some kind of joke?" He flared. "You brought me here because you want to what? Make out with me? Shag me?"

"It's not a joke." She shook her head. "And yes, I do. During mating season, blibbering humdingers will sometimes have sex as many as fifty times a day. It must feel good."

"You are completely mad." He scooted further away from her.

"All the best people are." She smiled.

He turned away from her, burying his head in his hands.

His mind swirled in fifty directions at once.

His body, however, displayed no confusion at all.

He had to shift his hips and tug his trousers into a more comfortable position.

He hoped she wouldn't notice.

Of course she did.

"You are interested in what I'm suggesting, Draco." She said matter of factly.

"This is so ... " He broke off and growled in frustration.

"It's all very simple really." She shrugged, moving closer, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's just two friends making each other feel good."

"And then what?" He sat still, but remained wary.

She kissed the side of his neck. "And then life goes on."

"How long do you expect this is going to last?" He asked, gasping as she gently nipped his collarbone.

"As long as it's meant to." She sighed, her hand stroking over his chest.

He gave in, pulling her face to his for a kiss and slipping his hand down to the hem of her shirt.

"You really want to do this, and you won't hate me for it after the holidays?" He confirmed.

"This is exactly what I want." She promised. "We'll do everything short of shagging tonight and tomorrow night. And then we'll shag the first night we come back after Christmas."

She kissed him again, and began to unbutton his shirt.

"Why?" He broke his mouth from hers long enough to ask.

"Anticipation makes everything better." She whispered.


	5. Chapter 5

He did not think about her every day during Christmas break.

All right, well, maybe he did, but it was to be expected really, wasn't it?

You don't give a teenage boy two nights of mind boggling almost-sex and expect him not to think about it for the next two weeks while he is alone. You don't just promise a young man unconditional sex and not expect him to wonder what the catch is.

He certainly did not spend any time planning to the most minute detail how, when, and where he was going to shag Luna Lovegood.

Or at least that's what he told himself.

The day they arrived back after Christmas, Draco spent the entire day trying to catch a glimpse of Luna, to see if she was serious about going through with this.

She barely acknowledged him. He pretty much figured she was going to back out on him.

He didn't even bother going to the boathouse that evening. He just went to his room, threw himself on the bed and scowled at the ceiling.

An hour later, there was a tapping on the door.

"Go away!" He barked.

"Draco?" Luna's voice called out to him.

He stood and threw open the door.

She tilted her head up at him. "You changed your mind?"

He grasped her wrist and pulled her inside, slamming the door before anyone saw her there.

"What do you mean, I changed _my_ mind?" He growled. "You haven't even looked at me since we got back to school!"

She gave him her normal wide eyed stare. "But whenever I start thinking about what we're going to do tonight, my breath becomes uneven and my heart pounds and my knickers get wet. I was afraid it would be worse to the point someone might notice if I looked at you."

When Draco thought about that moment later, he couldn't think of anything she could have said that would have turned him on more in that instant than the words that had just left her mouth.

At the time, however, he didn't think at all.

His mouth closed over hers and he walked her backwards until she fell onto the bed.

It wasn't anything at all like he had planned, but neither of them seemed to have any complaints.

Afterwards, as they lay in a tangle of bedsheets and clothing that was still half on, he asked her "Did you get what you wanted?"

"Yes." She smiled. "You came back to school safe and sound."


	6. Chapter 6

There were definitely advantages to having your own private room at Hogwarts.

Draco and Luna were able to spend hours alone together with no one the wiser.

He asked her once if her friends or dorm mates would notice her disappearances and question her.

She told him they were used to her disappearances by now.

A week or so into the new phase of their relationship, he mentioned. "You know, people would judge you if they knew what you were doing in here with me."

To which she replied. "Well, it isn't really any of their business, now is it?"

No one really seemed to pay attention to the two of them, other than Professor McGonagall, who told Draco she was glad to see he had finally reached some sort of peace within himself about being back at school.

They stayed at school together over Easter break, spending most of their time in his bed.

No promises were made, and none were asked for.

On their last night at Hogwarts, she asked "Where do we go now?"

He sighed, staring into the darkness overhead. "In August, I'm supposed to marry Astoria."

Her fingers tickled his collarbone. "And I'm leaving at the end of August to go to Sweden with the Scamander Expedition Group. Well, we have two months until then."

"It would be a shame to waste two more months." He caught her fingers and kissed them.

"I'm sure you'll figure something out." She smiled.


	7. Chapter 7

The day before his wedding, he woke in a sweat, chest heaving and heart pounding.

But it wasn't Voldemort or the Death Eaters or watching Crabbe die or the green light hitting Dumbledore's chest causing the man to fall endlessly from the tower or any of his regular nightmares that caused the reaction.

Actually, this one could have been a good dream, had it happened to someone else, in another life.

He had been dreaming of Luna playing with a blond, gray eyed, pointy chinned toddler that was unmistakably his son.

He owled her as soon as it was daylight, begging her to come see him about something important. He sneaked her through his private floo into his bedroom, where she told him it had only been a dream.

She wasn't pregnant.

There was no anger, only acceptance. His life had been planned long before he was born, and Draco had always known he was destined for a marriage that would net his family political and financial gains rather than himself an affectionate, understanding mate.

"I'll come to you tonight." He whispered. "The last time."

She nodded sadly.

As if by unspoken agreement, they made their last night together one that they would both remember for the rest of their lives. They both poured every ounce of the feelings they adamantly denied having for one another into their lovemaking.

Somewhere in the darkness, Draco forgot the spell he always whispered religiously when he was in Luna's arms, and inadvertently, he made his dream come true.

As he lay beside her in the dark, Luna whispered. "I love you."

He didn't answer.

She hadn't expected him to.


	8. Chapter 8

Nine months later, Astoria Malfoy suffered her third miscarriage. The kindly charge mediwitch had the patient admitted to the magical mishaps ward, so she wouldn't be surrounded by newborns and their joyful parents.

Trajan Lysander Lovegood was born on in the maternity ward of the same hospital on the same day.

His mother requested that the Daily Prophet not publish his birth announcement, and did not send cards heralding his birth to friends and family.

She also remained silent on the identity of the child's father, other than to say that he would not be a part of their son's life, but she held him no ill will.

"He had to do what he had to do, and I had to do the same." She would say if anyone pressed the subject and then talk about crumple horned snorkacks if anyone tried to continue the subject.

Harry Potter, Auror Trainee, wasn't satisfied with the answer. Ginny told him that unwed mothers were still looked down upon in wizarding society, but he remained convinced that Luna was hiding something.

He went straightaway to the bookstore and asked if they had any texts about Roman emperors. He flipped through the pages to find the chapter on Trajan. The first page showed a statue of a man, dreadfully ordinary by most standards, with the typical Roman hairstyle and the typical Roman toga, holding a staff with a carved head of a dragon. By his feet was propped a shield, also with a dragon emblem.

Harry wanted to go to Luna, to beg her to tell him he was wrong about the identity of the father of her child.

He never did, because he was afraid she wouldn't.


	9. Chapter 9

Three months later, to the day, the mediwitch confirmed that Astoria was pregnant again.

She clucked in disapproval, having specifically told the couple to wait at least six months before trying again, but by the same token, her heart went out to them.

She checked the expectant mother into the hospital immediately.

Astoria was placed on strict bedrest, plied with spells and potions and monitored so many times a day she lost count.

Despite their best efforts, she almost miscarried four times before she reached her fourth month.

Almost.

She began to relax in her sixth month, and by the seventh, she had chosen a name for her daughter and was eagerly awaiting the baby's birth.

She was seven months, one week, and four days pregnant when her labour began. They tried to stop it at first, hoping she could carry just a bit longer, but the baby seemed quite determined to make her entrance. The healers finally agreed to let the labour progress, as the baby should be developed enough to survive outside the womb with proper medical care.

They were wrong.

The delivery room fell silent as soon as the child was born.

Her lip and palate were cleft. Her fingers were fused together. Her cry was weak and pitiful, and she didn't squirm in the healer's hands like newborns should.

They took her away quickly, as Draco assured his sobbing wife that their baby was not a freak. She was not a monster.

When the healer came back an hour later, he wasn't smiling.

The situation was worse than they had feared.

The baby's heart only had two chambers. Most of her internal organs were reversed from the positions they should have been in. Her small intestine, which should have been at the very least about 4 ½ metres long, was less than 2 meters long.

In short, there was nothing the healers could do to save her.

They could keep her alive for maybe a few weeks with a tremendous effort. She would never leave the hospital alive. Or they could do nothing, short of fixing her lip and palate, and she would pass peacefully within a few days.

Her parents chose to take her home.

If there was a silver lining to the whole matter, the healer told them, the baby's issues now confirmed to them that whatever was causing Astoria to miscarry was probably a genetic factor. With their permission, the healer would like to create a genetic profile of the parents and grandparents, to see if there was a way to overcome the defective gene.

They nodded, more concerned about spending every minute they could with their daughter first.

The name they had chosen was Giabella.

Astoria told Draco she wanted to call the child Hope instead.

He couldn't possibly object.


	10. Chapter 10

Draco received an owl from the healer the day of Hope's funeral, offering his condolences and requesting to meet privately at Draco's convenience.

Draco went the next day.

"Mr. Malfoy," the healer began. "I asked to speak with you privately, as I thought it best to leave to your discretion how much you want to reveal to your family."

"It's my fault the babies die, isn't it?" He asked glumly.

"It's not that simple." The healer sighed. "I understand you and your wife are half second cousins, correct?"

Draco nodded. "Her maternal grandmother and my paternal grandfather were half siblings."

"Normally, that would be a distant enough relation not to cause any concern." The healer continued. "However … how much do you know of your mother's family?"

"They were the Blacks." Draco shrugged. "Everyone knows them."

"You are positive of that?" The healer asked.

"What are you talking about?" Draco frowned.

The healer sighed again, opening a folder on his desk. There were strange pictures inside, of something Draco didn't recognize.

"As you know, I did genetic profiles on you and your wife, and on both sets of your parents. I understand your mother had several miscarriages as well, and you were your parents' only surviving child?" The healer raised an eyebrow.

Draco nodded. "So is the defective gene in the Malfoy family, or the Black family?"

"Mr. Malfoy, this is going to be rather difficult for you," the healer paused, looking at him apologetically. "But based on your parents' genetic profiles, your parents are, at the very least, first cousins. More likely, half siblings."

"You're saying one of my parents was illegitimate?" Draco frowned, drawing back.

"Your mother, apparently, is a Malfoy rather than a Black." The healer confirmed. "This is why I wanted to tell you privately. I understand your parents have been married over twenty five years, and I would presume they have no idea."

"Obviously." Draco shook his head.

"Therefore, you will have to consider whether you want to tell them. Whether it will only accomplish to hurt them if they were to know." The healer continued gently. "Meanwhile, it seems that the Malfoy genes are also, for lack of a better term, well represented in your wife. I can't say that you and your wife would never have a healthy child, but the odds are against you."

Draco buried his head in his hands. "Storie wants a baby desperately. We need an heir for the Malfoy title and estate."

"I understand." The healer nodded sadly. "There are some options, especially if you were to go to a muggle treatment center specializing in such matters. I know this is a difficult time. Go home, comfort your wife, and grieve for your daughter. Come back in a few months, and we can talk further about the possibilities."

Draco nodded, thanked the man for his time, and rose from his chair, feeling colder inside than he had the night he faced Professor Dumbledore in the Astronomy Tower.


	11. Chapter 11

Draco ventured out of his house as little as possible over the next week, tiptoeing around the Manor and catering to Storie.

Visitors came to offer their condolences and cried with the bereaved mother.

No one asked the father how he was holding up.

On the eighth day, he had to get out of the house before he went insane. He told his wife and parents he was going to run some errands in Diagon Alley that had been collecting for the past two weeks.

His father offered to take care of things for him, but Draco insisted he wanted to do them himself.

As usual, most people in the street ignored him. The shopkeepers treated him professionally, walking the line between not wanting to lose the Malfoy business, but neither wanting to be seen as sympathetic to someone tied to Voldemort.

Outside the apothecary, someone placed a hand on his shoulder.

He turned to find Luna standing behind him.

He had seen her once or twice over the past year and a half. They had been invited to the same social functions. They hadn't spoken, however. After all, it was over between them.

"Draco, I'm very sorry about your daughter." She began. "I can't imagine how you must hurt … "

This, now, from her of all people, was too much.

"Leave me alone, Lovegood!" He snapped. "I will hurt you if you ever talk to me again!" He turned and walked away, and she made no attempt to stop him.

He made it to the front steps of Gringott's, head held high.

But before he walked through the door, he turned to look.

She stood in the same place where he had left her, but she wasn't watching him. Potter and Weaselette had caught up to her, and the She-Weasel placed something in Luna's arms.

Someone was standing right in front of her, so that he could not tell what Luna held, but she lowered her head toward it. Draco dropped his hand from the door handle and took a step back, watching her.

The person in front of her moved aside, and Draco saw what Luna cradled in her arms, what she pressed her lips against.

A blond baby.

The pain was as sharp and sudden as being kicked in the chest. He began to shove his way back through the crowd toward her, but by the time he reached the place she had been, she was gone.


	12. Chapter 12

After nearly frightening to death the elderly man who now lived in Luna's old flat, Draco calmed himself enough to contact the Malfoy family attorney. An hour later, the attorney's office notified him that Luna had moved back to her father's home.

He apparated there immediately, knocking on the door, then impatiently unlocking it with an Alohamora and barging in to face down Luna, halfway across the room.

"You lied to me!" He shouted. "I asked you if you were pregnant and you fucking lied to me!"

The child in her arms began to cry.

She handed the baby to her father. "Daddy, please take him upstairs."

"Luna ... " Her father began, looking at Draco uncertainly.

"He and I need to have this talk." She assured her father. "And Trajan doesn't need to be any more frightened than he already is."

"His name is Trajan?" Draco scoffed. "What kind of name is Trajan?"

"Trajan Lysander Lovegood." She shrugged. "I named him after you."

She watched until her father and child disappeared up the stairs, and then silenced the doorway behind them. She seemed to draw herself up and faced Draco without fear.

"No," She shook her head. "I did not lie to you. At the time you asked me if I was pregnant, I wasn't. Twenty four hours later, I was."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He demanded. "How old is he? Surely you could have found a moment to send me an owl in all that time!"

"He'll be ten months old next week." She answered softly. "He was born 16 May. By the time I found out, you were married to Astoria, and there were rumours that she was already expecting. What difference would it have made?"

"I'll tell you what difference it would have made!" He crossed the room to tower over her. "Storie has nearly killed herself trying to give me an heir and all along, I already had one!"

"So what would you have done?" Luna challenged. "Would you have divorced Astoria?"

"I want my son." He folded his arms.

"You can see him whenever you'd like," Luna offered. "He's a bit shy of strangers, so we had better start off slowly ... "

"I'm a stranger to my own child!" Draco was back to shouting. "He doesn't know who I am!"

"I'm sorry for that." She said. "We can't change what's already done, but we can go forward from here. Now, do you think Astoria is going to want to come visit, or ... "

"No." Draco shook his head. "I said I want my son. I'm taking him home with me."

"No." Luna shook her head. "You can't take him."

"You had him for almost ten months!" Draco raged. "It's my turn now."

"It doesn't work that way." She frowned. "He still needs his mother."

"Storie will be his mother now." Draco snapped.

"I need him." Luna's voice cracked at the end, and Draco realized she was as close to tears as he had ever seen her.

That didn't satisfy his anger at the moment.

"You want another one?" He snarled, putting his hand on his belt buckle.

Luna paled and stepped back.

"Do you think you can just take him as insurance until you and Astoria have another baby, and then give him back?" She asked in confusion.

"No." Draco shook his head. "I'm taking this one. You can go have another baby."

"He's a human being!" She argued. "Not a possession."

"He's my son, and I will have him." Draco told her with a frightening finality, and then left the house.


	13. Chapter 13

It was amazing, Luna thought to herself, how much money could make everything look better.

The Malfoy family attorney described a fairytale childhood, growing up in a house like unto a castle, with a human nanny rather than a house elf, private tutors, music lessons, vacations to beautiful places, and the best of everything money could buy, administered by a doting father and stepmother who had all the time in the world to spend with the child they wanted so much.

On the contrast, was growing up in a dodgy old country house with a single working mother and half mad grandfather, hand me down clothes and second hand schoolbooks.

"I hereby award full custody of the minor child to his father and stepmother, Draco and Astoria Malfoy."

"Your Hounour, you can't possibly!" Harry interrupted. "Draco Malfoy was a Death Eater. Luna is … "

"By your own testimony, Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy had no choice but to cooperate with the Voldemort regime under fear of immediate death for himself and his parents." The judge gave Harry a disparaging look. "Now. The child shall be conveyed into the father's care immediately at the conclusion of this hearing. I also grant the petition of the father to change the child's name to Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy. At this time, visitation will be suspended until the child is settled in his new home. Afterwards,the mother shall be allowed visitation in the father's home for two hours on the fourth Sunday of every month, until the child reaches Hogwarts age. At that time, we shall reconsider the matter of visitation. Best wishes to all of you. Court is now adjourned."

Draco closed the distance between them in three long strides, holding out his arms for his son.

Luna hugged Trajan, now Scorpius, and kissed his little cheek one last time.

"I love you." She whispered.

Draco took the child, settling the baby on his hip as Astoria handed Traj … Scorpius, a stuffed dragon, which promptly went into his mouth.

Lucius and Narcissa joined them, the two women chattering about having a family portrait made as the Malfoy family left the courtroom.

Harry and Ginny rushed to Luna's side as her father sank into a chair and buried his head in his hands.

"Luna, I am so, so sorry," Harry began. "If I had any idea testifying …"

Luna wasn't listening. She simply stared at Draco's back as he walked away with their baby.

"This is why I never told him." She whispered.


	14. Chapter 14

"Mumma!" the child wailed.

Astoria shoved the boy into Draco's arms. "He doesn't want me. I'm not his mumma!"

She stormed out of the room, tears glistening in her eyes.

Draco sat down in the rocking chair and offered Scorpius the bottle. The baby slapped it away.

"Your mother is not here." Draco told him.

The cries became louder and higher pitched. Draco tried the bottle again, but the baby only turned his head.

Draco held and rocked his son for forty five minutes before the child finally cried himself to sleep. Once he was still and silent, Draco really studied his son for the first time.

This was part of him that had grown inside Luna. He had his father's long, slender fingers, an artist or musician's hands, Narcissa used to say. Scorpius had Luna's wide eyes and full lips, but Draco's pointed chin.

Hope had those same fingers, but she had Storie's blue eyes. She didn't have any hair.

She never would.

Draco's heart hitched uncomfortably in his chest as he watched his son sleep.

A little over an hour, Scorpius was awake again, crying for his mumma.

"Scorpius, stop." Draco ordered.

The child screamed on.

Draco tried everything he could think of. He rocked the baby. He tried to tell him a story. He offered him a bottle many times, and even soft food once. He tried to placate his son with toys. He even called him Trajan, hoping the ridiculous name would settle the child.

Nothing worked.

Finally, in desperation, he called for a house elf.

"Go fetch me his mother." Draco barked.

"It nearly midnight." The elf pointed out.

"Yes, and he and I both need to go to bed." Draco muttered irritably.

"Miss Astoria …" the elf began.

"No, his real mother." Draco snapped.

The elf nodded and popped out of the room, returning moments later with Luna, still in her pajamas.

"He won't stop crying and I don't know what else to do." Draco shook his head, holding the inconsolable child out to her.

The moment he was in his mother's arms, the child stopped crying and shifted his position, turning himself nearly sideways. She immediately pulled up her shirt and offered him her breast. He latched on and began sucking greedily.

She sat in the rocking chair, smoothing his hair, murmuring softly to him.

"I didn't know you were still nursing him." Draco said softly, dropping to his knees beside the chair so he could see his son's eyes drifting closed.

"You didn't ask." She replied, but there was no anger in her voice, only sadness. "Mainly only at naptime and bedtime. I was starting to wean him. He mostly drinks from a cup during the day. He doesn't like bottles." She tilted her head toward the baby bottle that sat on the table beside her.

She rocked him for just a few more minutes, until his eyes stayed closed and jaw relaxed. With ease that comes from repetition, she detached her son, lowered her shirt, and stood, carrying him over to gently place him in the crib with another kiss on his little head.

"Hire me." She turned to Draco with tears in her eyes.

"What?" He whispered.

"You said you wanted a human nanny to take care of your child. You obviously don't have one yet. You won't find anyone else who will love him and take care of him the way I do." She pointed out.

"Luna ... " He shoved his hand through his hair.

"I'll work for whatever you pay." She pleaded. "I just need to be with him, and he needs me."

"He'll be fine." Draco promised. "We'll take good care of him. But he's got to become accustomed to being here, away from you."

The tears spilled over to roll down her cheeks.

Draco turned away.

"Thank you, Luna." He called over his shoulder. "Dimpy, take her home."


	15. Chapter 15

Narcissa stopped by the nursery the next morning to find her daughter in law stacking blocks for Scorpius, who kept knocking them down and laughing.

She came back after lunch, and was surprised to find her son rocking his child instead.

"Where's Storie?" She asked.

"Shhhh." Draco urged with a glance at the sleeping boy in his arms. "He got tired and started crying for his mother again. Storie was rather upset, so she left him with me."

"Do you blame her?" His mother asked softly.

"She has to take a firmer hand with him." Draco insisted. "The only way he's going to accept Storie as his mother is if she stops putting up with his tantrums and makes him behave."

"This is coming from the man sitting here rocking a sleeping child." Narcissa commented with a raised eyebrow.

Draco frowned. "This is the only way he'll sleep, with me holding him against my chest. Every time I try to put him down he wakes up and screams for his mother. He's got to sleep. He cried for nearly three hours last night. Luna said he was a good baby. I'd hate to see her idea of a cranky baby."

"Draco, have you considered whether bringing Scorpius here was the best thing for everyone?" His mother sighed, sitting down in the other chair.

"I couldn't have my heir growing up in that hovel." He insisted. "And not with Luna's father. He raised her, and look how she turned out."

"She apparently didn't turn out too horribly." Narcissa shrugged. "She held your attention for longer than anyone else, and you had a child with her."

Draco chose to ignore her point. "Storie needed a baby. I needed an heir. It's the best for everyone." He argued.

"I never told you what a horrible depression I went through when you went off to Hogwarts." she told him, looking at the sleeping baby in his arms. "I cried all day every day for several weeks over the fact that both of us were alone, and we shouldn't have been. My oldest child should have been at Hogwarts watching over his little brother, and my youngest should have been only six years old and still at home with me."

"What obscure point are you trying to make, Mother?" He huffed in annoyance.

"The fact that this child won't replace Hope." She looked at him sadly. "There will still be times that you will stop and think that Hope should be here. You'll wonder what she would be like now, or whether she would have liked to play in the snow, or whether she would be talented in potions or something along those lines. Or you'll think that you and Storie should have one almost the same age as him." She nodded toward her grandson. "It's too soon to put this on Storie. Maybe if you had waited a little longer ... "

"Then she would have been wanting to get pregnant again as soon as she could!" Draco hissed. "She would have kept putting us through this! At least now we have a child. This one is alive and healthy. If she'll just let herself care about him, he would make her feel better."

"Because having him here makes you feel better." Narcissa nodded. "You're replacing Hope with him."

"Whatever." Draco snapped. "The important part is, we have him now. He's my firstborn, my heir. Storie doesn't have to feel pressured. If she wants to try to go to the muggle baby clinic one day and try again to have her own, that's fine. But for now, we have one."

"You don't think it hurts Storie to have Scorpius here, in the nursery that you came home and transfigured blue less than a week after she buried her daughter, to have it thrown in her face that you have a healthy child with someone else?" His mother suggested.

"If it does, she's looking at it wrong." He replied stubbornly. "She wanted a baby. I got her one."

"What about how much this is hurting Scorpius and his mother?" Narcissa continued.

Draco just glared at her.

"He's only a baby, Draco." She looked at her grandson again. "Of course he's irritable. He's been taken from the only home he knows and brought to live with a houseful of strangers. You've changed his schedule, how he eats, and where he sleeps. He's frightened and angry and misses his mother, and he can't tell you. You can't tell him everything will be all right, because he's too young to understand. And I'm sure his mother must be devastated. If someone had taken you from me when you were that age, I might have done myself in."

She stood and walked toward the door, looking back over her shoulder at her son and grandson. "You took her child to try to patch the hole in your heart from losing your other child. But you've left her with nothing."


	16. Chapter 16

At dusk that evening, Scorpius began crying for his mother again.

Draco rocked the baby. He walked the baby. He offered a bottle, which Scorpius slapped out of his father's hand. He asked Storie if she thought she could nurse the child.

He honestly thought for a moment she was going to hit him.

She probably would have if he hadn't been holding his son at the time. Instead she stomped out and slammed the door.

Two hours later, had his nerves not been so frayed by the constant shrieking, Draco probably would have been impressed by his son's stamina and determination.

He eventually took the Slytherin approach. He put a drop of sleeping draught on the child's tongue.

Scorpius finally settled into a shuddering, fitful sleep. Draco laid him in the crib long enough to transfigure the rocking chair into one of those muggle reclining chairs that Blaise's fourth stepfather had. Refusing to take any chances, he settled into the chair with Scorpius asleep on his chest.

Rest did not come easily to Draco, however. The conversation with his mother earlier swirled through his head, alongside the hurt in Storie's eyes when Scorpius called for his mumma and the distress on the child's face when his mumma did not appear.

When he did finally doze off, Draco found himself sitting on the Hogwarts boathouse dock, trying to find enough courage in the bottom of a wine bottle to drop himself into the frigid water.

Then Luna was beside him. Luna, who came to save him.

She took the bottle and everything changed.

She finished off the wine, then threw the bottle into the lake.

She turned to him, and to his horror, he saw that the light in her eyes was gone.

"I gave you everything." She whispered. "I gave you friendship when no one else would. I gave you my heart. I gave you my body. I gave you our son. And you've given me nothing but hurt."

Before he could answer, she gracefully leaned forward and disappeared beneath the surface of the water.

"Mumma!" cried out a voice beside him. "Mumma!"

He turned his head to the side.

"Scorpius!" Draco called to his son.

The small child turned to look at him, and Draco realized it wasn't his son.

It was a younger version of himself.

He jerked himself awake, crying out before he realized that Scorpius was still laying on him.

The boy stirred in his sleep, murmuring "Mumma" again.

Draco shushed him, gently rubbing the baby's back until he stilled.

Draco however, stared into the darkness for the rest of the night.


	17. Chapter 17

As soon as it was light the following morning, Draco left his son in the care of a house elf against his better judgement, and apparated to the Lovegood home.

Luna's father opened the door and promptly pointed his wand at Draco.

"Leave!" the older man barked.

Draco raised his hands in submission. "I just need to talk to Luna." He pleaded.

"I think you've done quite enough." Xeno snapped.

Luna pushed past her father. "Is Trajan all right?"

"He's fine." Draco assured. "Get dressed. I'm going to take you to see him."

"Why?" Her father asked.

"Because he needs her and she needs him." Draco answered.

"Then why don't you just give him back?" Xeno pressed.

"I can't." Draco shook his head. "I need him."

"I'll be right back." Luna promised, backing into the house.

"Put shoes on!" Draco called after her.

"You're just like your father." Xeno grumbled. "Always think everything and everyone should bow to your whims."

"I wish things were different." Draco said softly. "For all our sakes. I really do."

Xeno huffed but didn't answer.

Luna returned quickly, dressed in jeans and a jumper with her hair in a ponytail.

"Do you really … " her father began.

"It's fine." She assured. "I'm going to see Trajan. I'll be back soon."

Xeno glared at Draco as Luna followed him down the steps.

They were barely an acceptable distance from the house when he grabbed her arm and pulled her into a sidealong apparition.

They landed near a side entrance to the Manor, and he led her inside and up the western stairs.

"Why are you doing this, Draco?" she asked softly.

He paused for a moment, looking back at her, before continuing on toward the nursery.

"I owe you." He answered, charging up the stairs, not looking at her. "You saved my life, and you brought my son into the world alone. I don't want you to … Just promise me you won't do anything stupid, all right?"

She stopped, forcing him to turn and look at her.

"You thought I would harm myself because you took Trajan?" She frowned.

"I don't know what I thought." He tugged on her arm to get her moving again. "Just don't, all right?"

"I won't." She promised.

"And his name is Scorpius now." Draco snapped.

He flung open the door of the nursery, to find Storie attempting to spoon feed the child.

By the looks of it, more food was on her and Scorpius than in his mouth.

Draco's wife looked over his shoulder, and then into her husband's face. "You can't be serious."

Scorpius also noticed the person following his father and began bouncing in his seat. "Mumma!" He shouted.

Luna rushed across the room, freeing her son from his highchair and swooping him into her arms, regardless of the sticky hands grabbing at her hair and the oatmeal covered cheek that pressed against her shoulder.

Draco watched mother and child until Storie pinched him, hard.

"May I speak with you in the hall?" She glared.

Frowning, he followed her out of the nursery and waited while she silenced the door.

"What do you think you're doing, bringing her here?" His wife fumed.

"She asked me to hire her to be his nanny." Draco answered. "She said she would work for anything. And you don't want to take care of him when he cries for his mumma ... "

"So you just thought you would bring her here without even talking to me about it first?" Storie shook her head incredulously.

He shoved his hand through his hair. "I just ... First of all, my mother said if she was in Luna's place, she would consider harming herself. I had to make sure Luna didn't do that. And I wanted her to see Scorpius, to hold him and realize how much she misses him, so she will agree to what I ask."

"And what exactly are you going to ask?" She demanded. "Or do I even want to know?"

"I haven't talked to you about it yet, but I was going to." Draco sighed. "I talked to the people at the muggle baby clinic. Our records indicate that my sperm and your eggs are not compatible. They said they could replace one or the other, and we could have a healthy baby. We already know Luna and I are compatible. I was going to ask her to donate her eggs to us so you and I could have a baby. In return, I'll give her access to Scorpius. If she balks, I'll offer to give her another child, one she can keep, in exchange."

Storie stared at him for nearly a full minute.

Then she slapped him across the face.

He recoiled in shock, his hand coming up to cover his stinging cheek.

"I knew you were a selfish bastard, but this, even for you, is just too much!" She raged. "Did you really ever stop to think how I would feel about this?"

"You don't want to take care of him when he cries for his mumma." Draco pointed out. "And you want your own baby."

"That's right, I want my baby." She snapped, and then choked on the sob that burst from her throat. "But I can't have her! So you think the answer is to take your girlfriend's baby and give him to me, and then another of your girlfriend's babies after that?"

"No, Storie, you don't understand." He tried to pull her into his arms, but she pushed him away. "When we go to the muggle clinic, you'll actually carry that baby and give birth to it. It just won't be your egg, that's all."

"That's supposed to make me feel better?" She cried. "Why does it have to be my egg that gets replaced? Why can't we replace your sperm? Did you ever think about how much it would hurt me to carry a baby that really isn't mine? Or how much it would hurt me to see you watch Luna with Scorpius and know you'll never look at me like that?"

He recoiled as if she had struck him again.

"Storie, you're being ridiculous." He protested.

"You really think I'm the one being ridiculous?" She shook her head sadly, then turned and walked away.

"Storie, come back here!" He ordered.

She didn't even look at him.


End file.
